Rank: Species

Lineage: Bacteria;delta/epsilon subdivisions;Epsilonproteobacteria;Campylobacterales;Campylobacteraceae;Campylobacter;Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus

Description: Campylobacter fetus. This organism causes infertlity and infectious abortions in domesticated sheep, goats and cattle. It is an opportunistic pathogen in humans which can severely affect immunocompromised patients. Initially the bacterium can cause gastroenteritis, and then spread systemically throughout the blood (bacteremia) and cause septicemia, meningitis, and other systemic infections. One of the leading virulence factors is the paracrystalline protein layer at the outermost cell surface that is comprised of an orderly array of S-layer (surface layer) proteins. This layer is essential for host colonization, and prevents complemented-mediated immune responses by inhibiting complement C3b binding. Genes for the S-layer proteins are rearranged on the chromosome, a process which contributes to the antigenic diversity of the S-layer which inhibits detection by the immune system. More >> Less >>

Reference Material:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/?term=Campylobacter%20fetus%20subsp.%20fetus